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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chip — for betting
  4. mate — a friend
  5. shower — to wash
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. key — for a lock
  8. band — a music group
  9. race — a contest
  10. race — humankind
  11. chip — to eat
  12. chest — of your body
  13. race — the arms race
  14. mate — a partner
  15. mate — to breed
  16. key — the most important part
  17. key — in music
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. chest — a box
  20. bat — the animal
  21. band — a ring
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. shower — rain

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com